On June 10, 2021, Alexander Weimann, Music Director of Seattle Baroque Orchestra, presented a masterclass of Historical Performance at The Conservatory of Tatuí, Brazil. A masterclass is a class, especially in music, given by an expert to highly talented students. Meet the gifted students below.
Simeia Mendes de Oliveira – Piano
Currently studying piano at the Conservatory of Tatuí under the guidance of Junior Gurgel. She began her musical studies with Marta Melo (until 1998), who applied Claudio Richerme’s piano technique. From 2017 to 2020, she studied piano with Andrea Turato in the city of Poços de Caldas, Minas Gerais (Brazil). In the January of 2019, she attended the Festival Música nas Montanhas under the guidance of Ney Fiakow.
Cesar Tessarin – Harpsichord
Tessarin began his musical studies at an early age, guided by the great involvement of his family with the musical world. Tessarin’s first instrument – at the age of 3 – was a classical guitar built by his father, a professional luthier, and was taught by his uncle. His formal musical education began at the Conservatory of Tatuí, where he obtained a degree in Classical Guitar in 2008, at the age of 16.
With his great passion by keyboard instruments since his childhood, was self-taught both at the harpsichord and organ, that eventually became his main activity. In 2014, he returned to the same conservatory in order to study conducting with Cadmo Fausto. He also studied bass and played with many early music ensembles. In 2018, while attending the Harpsichord Week at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Tessarin performed a public recital. He also played as a continuo player with the Piracicaba Chamber Orchestra in the same year.
In 2020, he enrolled as a student to the Historical Performance department of the Conservatory of Tatuí, in order to study under the guidance of Pedro Persone, PhD.
Manoela Bonina – Baroque Violin
Bonina holds a Bachelor’s degree in violin performance by the Technological Institute of Osasco (Fito), where she studied under the guidance of Gabriel Gorun (Romania). Within her international musical experience, one can mention the Vaasa Chamber Music International Festival (Finland, 2013) and the ESMAE Early Music International Course (Portugal, 2015). She picked the baroque violin in 2014 with Paulo Henes and was soon invited to play at the Baroque Art Orchestra, where her teacher was also the Music Director. In Brazil, from 2015to 2018, she attended the EMESP Early Music Encounter, where she had the experience to play with Sigiswald Kuijken, Ryo Terakado and Jaap Ter Linden. She participated of masterclasses with Manfredo Kraemer (2018), Cynthia Freivolgel (2019) and Rodolfo Richter (2020, at the VI Conservatory of Tatuí Historical Performance Week). She is currently studying at the Conservatory of Tatuí under the guidance of Marcus Held, and plays with the EOS – Early Music USP and, for 7 years, has been working at the Schola Cantorum of the Nossa Senhora de Nazaré (Osasco).
Gustavo Carloni – Viola da Gamba
Carloni was born in Jaú-SP, reads philosophy at Uninter and holds a degree in viola da gamba performance by the Conservatory of Tatuí (2019). He began his musical studies as a cellist at the same conservatory. Having a special interest in historical performance practice, in 2015 he picked the viol under the guidance of João Guilherme Figueiredo. Carloni attended many festivals and summer courses in Brazil, such as the Curitiba Early Music Workshop (from 2018 to 2021), the EMESP Early Music Encounter (in 2018 and 2019) and the Conservatory of Tatuí Historical Performance Week (from 2018 to 2020). In those events, he had the chance to learn from prestigious professors, such as Jennifer Morsches, Reiko Ichise, Rodolfo Richter, Marcus Held, Juliano Buosi, Dolores Costoyas, Nanneke Schaao, Jaap Ter Linden and Luís Otávio Santos.